Elevation
by Mixer Monochrome
Summary: Sapphire lives on the surface of her planet. Ruby lives at the very core. Garnet lives in the stormy space between. Their societies have very little to do with each other, and there's no reason that they'd meet under normal circumstances, but a high-energy storm changes all that, and after a little adjusting, they couldn't be happier.
1. Surface

Sapphire's first memory was of crushing weight on all sides and a sharp cold wrapping around her - a blanket with none of the comfort. Her vision was slow to establish itself, her single eye casting a sheen of blue light that made little difference in the steep darkness of the crack that held her. Sapphire tested the movements of her new form, finding it hard to move anything wedged as she was, back flush against smooth ice and limbs braced awkwardly against the opposite wall. Despite her senses still being a little jumbled - was that her foot that itched or her elbow? - Sapphire eventually noted a particular strain when she moved her right hand.

Disgruntled, and with panic sprouting at the base of her neck, she craned her head as far back as it would go in an attempt to get some sort of bearing on her surroundings. The walls were tall and looming, with few to no chinks or cracks to make climbing easier. Even if she'd had free reign of her limbs, scaling her way out was likely out of the question. Sapphire frowned, but pushed the problem aside for later. One thing at a time. As she continued her scan, she thanked whatever luck she had that she'd at least formed right side up - she imagined this entire situation would be exponentially more difficult otherwise. Her eye traveled further upward until she noticed a distant glow: faint, but enough to illuminate the opening of the jagged fissure like a beacon.

Sapphire just had to figure out how to get there.

She gave another tug at her right hand, hearing an unpleasant chink and grunting at the pain that lanced up her shoulder. Shifting again, Sapphire groped her free fingers along the ice that held her hostage, curling them around the edges of the small crevice. If she just pulled hard enough, she could crack the ice and wiggle her hand free. Then she'd worry about scaling the wall. She grit her teeth and pulled as hard as her position allowed, feeling the cold seep deeper into her flesh with each second that passed. After a minute or two of continuous effort, Sapphire slumped forward with an exhausted groan, tired arms, and nothing to show for it. She pillowed her forehead against the ice, closing her eye and casting her thoughts about for another escape plan.

A faint ringing in her ears accompanied a fuzzy and disjointed mess of impressions flashing in her mind's eye.

Cracking ice, an intoxicating surge of energy, trillions of tiny lights whirling above her on a dark backdrop and three curving swaths of inky black cutting through them all. Spiraling towers and pillars of ice, looming but no longer confining. Speed and wind and everything falling away beneath her as she rose higher and higher, small right hand outstretched to gather the lights whose names mingled like old friends in the back of her mind. A blue stone, cut with the image of a triangle and set into her reaching palm, magnified and threw back their scant light.

Sapphire came back to herself with a headache and more questions than answers. That was… odd. If she weren't so certain that this was her first formation, Sapphire would've thought the images were fragmented memories. But what were they, then, that she'd seen them so vividly (even as the details dulled and faded with each second)?

The answer, she found after seconds ticked past, sat calmly in the back of her mind, blurred at the edges as all her senses were in their newness, but there. The scenes were glimpses of the future, a taste of time's cup, and while Sapphire couldn't discern what all of it meant, a skill she hoped came with time, she knew one thing for certain. She wouldn't stay here. Not forever. There had been something about that surge of energy she'd seen. If she just waited for it, freedom would be inevitable. Sapphire shifted her weight, surveying again the walls of her prison.

She only hoped it would come soon.

/\\\/\\\/

The memory surfaced again nearly two hundred Turns later, when Sapphire sat at the edge of a chasm much wider and far deeper than the one she'd formed in. The planes were silent, as they often were during the serenity of the Stillness, and Sapphire basked in it. The loose fabric of her layered dress hung over the cliff-side and pooled around her. Thin lines of irregularly blinking lights inched resolutely within the ice, their glow distorted and dispersed through the barrier. Sapphire glanced down, spotting a single point of light transition from the ice onto the wall of the chasm, wriggling out of one of the millions of small holes pock-marking the walls to reveal a small round creature, covered in smooth plates and with three short, stocky legs holding fast to the sheer surface. The creature turned itself around on the wall, its many eyes pulsing green as it took in Sapphire, who remained motionless, and the sky beyond her. Seeing no threat, the creature chittered and raised the plating on its back, revealing four thin wings veined with glowing light. It took off and spiraled lazily through the air, circling Sapphire's head once before heading past her towards the distant shape of the nearest city.

Slowly, at first one at a time but coming in thicker and thicker bundles, the other light creatures made their way out of their tunnels and into the air until their light no longer speckled the ice, instead weaving and spinning thick trails of bioluminescent greens and blues into the sky overhead. Sapphire watched them for a time, idly making pseudo-constellations out of the ever moving stream or spotting a rendition of a constellation she knew by heart, of which there were many, before it melted into something else.

When the sky began to clear again, Sapphire returned her gaze to the depths of the chasm. If the litulen were surfacing, then she would have to return soon. Her hands clutched at the skirt of her dress, and her eye, glowing with less intensity than the litulen's but with enough strength to dispel some of the darkness of the Surface, searched for… something. Sapphire tested the energy in the air, but found only the constant hum of the ice and the quickly dissipating ring of the litulen's energy.

After a time, she sighed and picked herself up, hovering a couple of inches off the ground to put her skirts in order before she touched down again. Today just hadn't been the day, Sapphire supposed. While she'd gained far better control over her Sight in her many Turns on the Surface, there were still problems deciphering fine details. The larger events, or the ones further off into the future, slipped far more easily around the edges of her awareness. The vision that brought her here had been almost as indistinct and jumbled as her first, and had not cleared any time she'd called it since then. The only things she'd been able to interpret with certainty were the location and the general time it would come to pass. The specific cycle, as well as the Turn, eluded her.

She'd come to this spot every cycle for more than three quarters of a season at this point, having first called the vision shortly before the last of the Shaking faded and the Stillness rose. She fretted that at this rate, the vision wouldn't come to pass before the seasons turned again (that, at least, was easy to pinpoint. There was still another 20 cycles before the first tremors of the next Shaking began).

Her Sight, while uncertain at times, was a rare asset to her cluster, allowing a drastic increase in general efficiency and a similar decrease in social unrest. Consequently, she'd been assigned caretakers who were rarely allowed to let her out of their sight, even during the safety of the Stillness. Getting leave to travel alone once their cluster relocated to the Shaking Grounds would be nigh on impossible.

Most of the time, Sapphire didn't mind her retainers' presence - however imposed it was. They were good and competent gems, and they often gave insightful perspectives on her more obscure visions. On any other occasion she would have brought them along on her "investigation".

This vision, however, was born from a personal inquiry rather than a societal one, and she wanted to keep the contents as under the radar as possible. She'd pulled some strings with her superiors and managed to get a few hours' time each cycle to 'meditate' and further strengthen her Sight.

Her caretakers knew more - that she was waiting for a particularly personal vision to come to pass - but no details. They left her alone willingly enough, despite their worry.

"Sapphire, it's time to head back to the city!" A familiar voice called. Sapphire turned to see one of her handlers, Pearl, standing a few feet away, all thin willowy limbs and soft pastel colours even in the faint starlight. "Did you find anything this time?"

"Not yet." Sapphire replied, gliding across the ice to stop at Pearl's side. "But it's only a matter of time."

Pearl nodded, beginning their trek towards the city, "Let's only hope it comes before the Shaking. Stars know how you'd get here without getting hit by an avalanche, or falling into an ice sink, or getting caught in a hail storm..." She fretted for a moment, slender fingers propped over her chin, "And that's assuming you get permission to leave in the first place."

"I'll manage if it comes to that." Sapphire hummed, only slightly deterred despite her own musings in the same direction. Her visions had a way of working themselves out.

A short silence fell between the two, and Sapphire could see the faint light of Pearl's eyes swivel towards her several times before moving back to the ice ahead. The soft sound of the taller gem's mouth opening carried in the still air, and Sapphire sighed.

"We've gone over this, Pearl. I can't tell you."

"And why not?" Pearl shot back, eyes flashing, "You've never had a problem with telling me - telling us - your visions before. What's so different this time?"

Sapphire continued walking, calm and collected with fingers laced across her frock. "It's personal. None of your concern."

She could almost feel the look Pearl directed at her back, crawling and wounded. But her pace stayed constant, her shoulders stayed straight. Pearl wouldn't understand, none of their kin would. Sapphire had seen it, both with and without her Sight.

Unfortunately, Pearl understood the situation - understood Sapphire - enough to guess. She always had been a quick learner.

"Is it about those gems that come trade with us?" She asked, voice low and dangerously soft, "About wherever it is they live?"

That made Sapphire's steady pace falter, though she still didn't turn or answer. It was nonetheless enough for Pearl, who had known her since she'd dragged herself from the fissure she'd formed in. She gasped, scandalized, and Sapphire winced beneath her bangs.

"Sapphire, I thought we'd spoken some sense into you. There's nothing of interest down there."

Sapphire bit back her retort, because they had had this conversation before, many times in fact, and if Pearl hadn't understood then, she wouldn't understand now. "We should hurry." she said instead, starting once more towards the city, "The work period will begin soon."

"I just want you to stay safe." Pearl said after another pregnant pause, "The First moved up here because whatever's beneath the ice is dangerous."

Sapphire remained as silent as ever until they reached the city gates. Then she tilted her head just enough to make eye contact with Pearl, single eye glowing intently even through her bangs. "We don't know that for certain."

"You've seen what their projections are like, Sapphire. They're - they're-"

"Big?"

"Yes. Big. And their energy is like nothing I've ever felt before. Why would they form like that unless there's some sort of danger down there?"

Sapphire pursed her lips and turned back to the city gates - they would only talk each other into circles if she let this go on. So she raised her gem to the scanner. The device gave a chipper beep, and a low moan shook the ice beneath the duo's feet - a pale echo of the Shaking's at times devastating tremors, but nevertheless enough to send some fresh gems into a panic (Sapphire would never admit to the way her own energy flow had spiked and stuttered upon her first encounter with the device). Frosted iron bars clicked and shifted as they pulled away from each other to reveal a city already in motion.

Gems of various shapes and hues hustled and bustled to reach their destinations, carrying whatever trappings were necessary for the projects they'd worked on during the observation period. Paints and scrolls and scales and spools jangled and clacked together, a stark contrast to the still and carrying quiet of the planes outside the walls.

Accustomed to the abrupt atmospheric change after Turns of immersion, Sapphire wasted no time inserting herself into the stream of gems, trusting Pearl to do the same as she turned her already waking Sight to the work period ahead. Images of booming sound and streaks of light brighter than she'd ever seen, along with two blurry figures - at once familiar and strangers in the way only her Sight could manage - filed away patiently into the back of her mind. The time would come when she would encounter them first-hand.

All she had to do was wait.

* * *

A/N: If it isn't obvious, this is an AU. The gems work... mostly the same as they do in canon, but they live strictly on one planet instead of being an intergalactic empire, and fusions are separate beings from their component parts. There's a few other minor changes, but they'll be explained as the story progresses (hopefully).

I originally planned on having Ruby and Garnet's introductions here as well, but they're fighting me, so I decided to post them separately.

Feel free to tell me anything that might have been too confusing or wordy or the like. I'm always up for some concrit!

Edit: Made some changes for clarity's sake. Nothing too large story-wise


	2. Core

Lava churned around Ruby, thick and slow but powerful as it ate away the rugged face of the boulder, twice her size with sharp outcrops jutting out at odd angles and veins of different metals and minerals ringing the sides, that floated before her. To speed the process along, Ruby swam around the edges and dug her fingers into the surface, scoring deep channels for the lava to fill and eat away at. That done, she kicked off and watched intently as the rock oozed apart, different shades of lava bubbling from each vein. With the ease and grace of long-held experience, she wrapped her fingers around a single flow, a pale orange, almost yellow, and ushered it close to her side. The rock dissipated further, and Ruby continued the separation, amassing the desired shade of lava into a single mass until, minutes later, nothing was left of the original boulder.

Satisfied, Ruby moved her full attention to the lava she'd pulled from the rest, rolling her wrists in preparation for the next phase of her task. With a grunt, she pressed her hands into the edges of the blob, pushing them towards the center with intense concentration until a portion of the goo solidified between them. She pulled her hands back and eyed the result.

The nugget of metal was a quarter of the size of her gem, embedded in her left hand, pure enough for their purposes and already glowing orange again as it attempted to unravel into lava once more.

"Oh no you don't." Ruby muttered, pushing the metal back into the goo and repeating her original motion, pouring on the pressure until another layer formed atop the first. Then she did it again, and again, adding layer upon layer and checking the slowly growing ingot every so often, melting away any impurity too large to be acceptable. The ingot grew to about the size of two fists before she ran out of material, and Ruby looked it over one last time. Seeing no glaring mistakes, she grinned and tucked the metal under a single arm, casting about for the energy trail she'd left for herself to follow - a necessity for every ruby working the featureless expanse of the Inner Core.

Finding her trail, Ruby began the short swim to her room, waving brief greetings to the other rubies she passed and keeping her eyes carefully away from the occasional bright red glow of a mairus lure - she didn't fancy getting dragged who knows where in the Core to get who knows what done to her, thank you very much.

She breached the surface of the lava hand first, gripping the edge of the hole - curved and dimpled from the slight deposits of lava Ruby caused every time she surfaced - and dragging herself into open air. Clambering to her feet, Ruby then made her way to a pile of ingots at the edge of the room, each varying in size and shape but coloured the same dull gray. She ignored the lava that dribbled down her body, though she did wipe away the stray line that ran over her eyes, and settled the still glowing metal on the top of the pile.

That finished, Ruby spared a glance at the door that separated her room from the rest of the Outer Core, noting that the first of the four small lights at the top still glowed. Back to work it was then. She ambled over to the pile of boulders on the other end of the pool and heaved one into her arms. Before she could pivot and slip back into the lava stream, someone pounded on the other side of the door. Ruby yelped and fumbled to regain her grip on the boulder, but slipped past her fingers regardless. She jumped back only _just_ quickly enough to avoid flattening her toes.

The adrenaline coursing through her from the near miss funneled into bubbling agitation as Ruby stomped to the door, pounding the button that opened it and swearing under her breath at whoever was on the other side. The sleek panel receded into the ceiling with a hiss, and the light from Ruby's room poured into the dark hallway, illuminating a smirking purple face and a messy cascade of silver hair.

"Yo," the visitor greeted simply, casually even, as if she wasn't at Ruby's door, a good three sectors away from the mining tunnels, while she was _supposed_ to be working. Ruby's swearing rose in volume and she quickly tugged the gem inside, closing the door behind her.

" _Amethyst._ " She hissed, shooting a frantic look over her shoulder at the door and turning to grip her shoulders, "What are you doing here? They'll stick you with triple shifts for _seasons_ if they catch you out during your work shift. _Especially_ with Forging just around the corner!"

Amethyst held her hands up in front of her, "Whoa there, Sparky! You know I'm the best sneaker-outer there is, they aren't gonna catch me anytime soon." She gestured to the still sizeable pile of boulders in the corner, "Besides, we have enough materials in circulation for now. They won't miss whatever I can dig up. But - uh - could you..." Her eyes fell to Ruby's upper arms with some trepidation, and Ruby followed her gaze, seeing the bright glow of lava still trickling down her limbs.

"Oh - right. Sorry." She quickly relinquished her grip on Amethyst's shoulders and took a step back, brushing the steaming trails from her limbs and doing what she could for the thick curls of her hair. Finishing that, she found her aggravation had mostly dissipated, though there was still enough to muster a half-serious glare when she noticed Amethyst lounging atop her boulder pile, somehow making the position seem like the most comfortable thing in the world, "Really, Amethyst, why are you here? Couldn't you have waited until our rest shift?"

"I could have, yeah. But where's the fun in that?" She grinned wide at Ruby's resultant groan, "'Sides, I thought you'd want to see what I got you last cycle as soon as possible."

Ruby paused, puzzled. Sure, she hadn't seen Amethyst at all last cycle, but she'd chalked it up to her friend's propensity to 'sleep' during the rest shifts. But if she said she had something… Ruby counted the days in her head as she walked over to Amethyst and frowned, "What are you talking about? The Traders won't be here for another two cycles."

"Weeeeell," Amethyst drawled, "I may have traded off a few things to a Citrine..."

"You _what?_ " Ruby gasped, torn between feeling touched and guilty. Amethyst rarely parted with anything from her hoard, barring trade cycles, "Amethyst, you didn't have too. I could have waited two more cycles."

Amethyst shrugged off her concern, though she avoided eye contact and Ruby could see the flush across her cheeks, "Don't stress out about it. It wasn't like I traded anything _important_." A smirk curled the edges of her lips, and she glanced back, "But - If you're that worked up about it I _could_ give it back -"

"No!" Ruby said, cheeks burning when she noticed Amethyst's triumphant grin, "I mean - let me at least look at it before I decide. You went through all that trouble after all…"

Amethyst laughed and jumped down from her perch, slinging an arm around Ruby's neck companionably, "That's what I thought. Lucky for you- " she stuck her free arm into the bag hanging over her shoulder, tongue out playfully as she produced a simply framed canvas, "I thought to bring it along."

Ruby's breath hitched and she reached forward with trembling hands, stopping briefly to look herself over again for any stray lava. She'd learned the hard way that paintings were, unlike the metal and stone she was used to working with, highly susceptible to burning at even the slightest drop of lava or a stray ember, and she wasn't going to need a second lesson anytime soon. Satisfied that she posed no threat to her prize, Ruby took the offering with ginger hands, turning it first one way and then another to see the strokes of paint from every angle.

The background was dark, as most of her paintings were, shades on shades of black and purple clouds - angry and powerful for all their soft edges. Streaks of lightning lanced between them, light where the clouds were dark, thin where they billowed, sharp where they blurred, the perfect contrast. Ruby traced the most prominent line with one finger, feeling her throat tighten and a familiar heat tug at the corners of her eyes.

"So… I'm guessing you like it, then?" Amethyst's question was soft, but Ruby nonetheless made a startled noise and pulled the painting closer to her chest. An embarrassed flush trailed up Ruby's neck when she regained some idea of the room around her, but she nodded minutely.

"It's beautiful, Ame." She said, hearing a relieved sigh in response. She returned to tracing the lightning bolt for a couple of seconds before she turned and made her way to a small shelf in the back of the room, as far from the lava pool as she'd been able to manage. Twenty or so paintings sat there in a neat array, and Ruby eyed them fondly before placing her newest one between a painting of a large stony column, the top obscured by thunderclouds, and one of a sparkling city in the far distance, surrounded by twinkling lights that dotted the sky. There was a beat of silence before Ruby, mind far away, said for the first time what she'd been thinking since the moment she'd started her collection.

"I'm going to see these one day."

Amethyst made a strangled sound behind her, like she'd just tried to lift a rock twenty times her own size, before it shifted into laughter, loud and long and at once very like Amethyst and nothing like her at all. "Hah, what're you talking about, Ruby? They're right there."

Ruby shook her head, turning around, "That's not what I mean. In _person,_ Ame. I don't think I can settle for just the paintings anymore. I want to go - I want to see all of it with my own eyes."

Amethyst frowned, "You want to leave the Core?"

"Not forever!" Ruby was quick to reply, not missing the way Amethyst's shoulders eased, "Just long enough to see a thunderstorm for myself. Maybe even see the stars…" She trailed off for a moment, "But I'd come right back - wouldn't even miss a shift."

Amethyst thought for a moment, "You'd need to find a way out of here first."

"The Traders do it all the time," Ruby shrugged, a giddy buzz coursing through her as she planned aloud, "I'll follow one of them and figure out how they do it."

"You're about as subtle as a lava pool," Amethyst shot down, "You know how secretive they are, you'll get caught before you even leave the trade room."

Ruby huffed, folding her arms over her chest defensively, "Do you have a _better_ idea?"

"Sure do." Amethyst leaned against the wall with a lopsided grin, "I'll tail 'em for you."

Ruby gaped, "Really?"

"Oh come on, sneaking out behind people's backs? Being the first Core gems in who knows how long to actually leave the place? Did you expect me _not_ to help?" She rolled her eyes, "I get to come along, though. Just sayin'."

Ruby whooped and tackled Amethyst, who to her credit only stumbled a little despite the lack of warning, "You're the best, Amethyst!"

"Heh, well, I try." She responded, fidgeting beneath Ruby's hold, "Besides, someone's gotta keep you from falling down a hole or something."

Ruby pulled away and frowned, affronted, "That was _once._ "

"I'm pretty sure it's been at least ten times."

Ruby punched Amethyst's shoulder in mock anger, "You're a jerk, you know that?"

"And proud of it." Amethyst returned. "So when are we pulling the great escape?"

Ruby fell into thought, then shrugged, "Probably after this next Forging is over. We only have a few cycles until it starts, and that's not a lot of time."

Amethyst scoffed, "I'm not waiting a whole 'nother season for this. I'll get the info next Trading Cycle, and we can go take a look around before the big work gets going."

"You know how busy it gets during Forging." Ruby said, shifting from foot to foot nervously, "Are you sure we can get out before we're pulled for extended shifts?"

"Trust me, we'll be fine." Amethyst reassured. A small ding drew the two's attention to the door, where the first light lay dark and the second gleamed merrily. Amethyst looked back with a grin, "But for now, let's go do something fun. I hear they're planning a game of lava stone in the quartz tunnels. You up for a few rounds?"

Ruby grinned back, wild and full to the brim with challenge, "Only if you're ready to lose."

"Ohoho, you're _on_ , Sparky!" Amethyst darted for the door, hammering the button to open it and tumbling out into the hallway, deep blue light, nearly purple, quickly emanating from her eyes in reaction to the dark halls. "Race you there!"

Ruby yelled an incoherent objection and followed her out the door, casting a last, eager look to the shelf of paintings before pressing the door shut and barreling after the light she could see receding down the tunnels, her own eye glow flickering to life.

She'd get to see the real things soon enough.


End file.
